I blink through the tears... tears? When did I start crying? I don't even
know shit yet. I'm a fucking fountain! I wipe them away and do my best to
focus my eyes on the paper in front of me. Then I see it... the sibling
section is filled... as a matter of fact... there's information on an older
brother. Same date of birth as Jean-Claude. I look for the distinguishing
mark... it's there... a crescent shaped birth mark in his left armpit.
"We were right," I blubber to Carm. "We were right."
The two of us start crying and hugging.
"Robby's going to want to know," she tells me, grabbing her cell phone.
"That he has a brother or that my husband is that brother?"
"I don't know. So, how do you want to do this?"
"I think it has to be a neutral place where Jean-Claude can't get mad and
have a fit."
"He's going to feel ambushed."
"True... your place then."
"Our place? Who's going to cook?"
"You'll cater, you lazy, lazy, lazy little girl."
"Fine. I thought you might want to cook a little something but... that's all
right."
"Nuh huh... a woman in my condition..."
"Your condition my ass! How pregnant are you?"
"Nine weeks."
"It's nothing... a little tiramisu won't hurt you," she prods me.
"No! Now, go home and tell Robbie he has a brother. I still have to figure
out how to tell Jean-Claude. We'll be at your place by seven, okay?"
"Fine."
Jean-Claude gets home from his production meeting energized.
"How did it go?" I ask him when he comes in.
"Beautiful." He twirls me around the living room and sits on the couch,
pulling me into his lap.
I watch his expressive face as he lapses into French, telling me about his
new project. He seems so excited. So happy. Do I have the right to ruin
that happiness?
"Katia? You're not listening."
"I'm not? I'm sorry darling. It's just. Carm dropped by today."
"And how is my lovely belle-soeur?"
"She's good... quite happy about something."
"What?"
"You know how Rob's been looking for his family?"
Jean-Claude tenses up immediately. He starts to get up. I push him down.
"Listen to me... this is important. His parents are dead but... Carm brought
over the file. Turns out they had another son a long time before Rob."
"He has a brother?"
I feel the sadness in his voice. I want to cry. He deserves a family too. I damn his parents for the nth time.
"Yeah. An older brother. Jean-Claude. I don't know how to say this. I've
been thinking about this all day... ever since I found out."
"What?"
"Baby, I have reason... good reason to think you're Rob's brother."
"You're crazy!"
He gets up quickly and I almost fall on my ass.
"He was born on the same day as you, Rob's brother, that is," I say quickly as he starts pacing
across the living room and.
"And what?" he turns to me, his eyes blazing.
"He has a birth mark... a crescent in his left armpit. Just like you."
"Just like me."
Jean-Claude turns to me and I see the tears brimming in his eyes. I go to
him, my tears mixing in with his.
"I could have a little brother," he whispers in my ear, sobbing, holding
me tight.
"And our baby will have an uncle."
"Our baby?"
He pulls me away from him and looks down to my stomach, his eyes widening.
I nod happily. "Our baby."
"Our baby."
There are tears again. happy ones and he pulls me into his arms, kissing
me wildly, passionately. lovingly. I eye the clock on the mantle. We're
going to be late, I think as he strips off my clothes. I shrug. Carm can
keep food warm, can't she?
You know, I still can't believe she's making me cook. She knows I hate to
cook. Especially when her husband is eating it. He complains, even when
the meal is exquisitely prepared. He just does it to get my goat. Ugh.
Sometimes I rue the day he became family. And now. he's becoming family
again.
It's still kind of hard to think about. I mean... as long as I swore I hated
him? Granted, I don't hate him. I love him. As long as he treats my sister
right. But... him and Robbie? They can't get along as potential in-laws, how
are they gonna get along as actual brothers? That escapes me, but it
doesn't matter.
When I get home, Robbie isn't here. Thank goodness. It gives me time to
run back out and get food. And it gives me time to think of how to tell
him. When I get home, he still isn't back. Though, with dinner almost
ready, I think I should call him. Wouldn't be good for Kat and JC to get
here and no Robbie. I quickly dial his cell and listen to it ring and ring
and ring and...
"Hello?" Wherever he is, it's loud. Sounds like traffic. I can hear the
horns blaring in the background.
"Baby? Where are you?" I ask him, trying to speak loud enough for him to
hear.
"Carmie? Hey... I'm stuck in traffic."
"Sounds bad. Where have you been all day?"
"Oh! I got great news! I'm getting another movie!"
"You don't have to go back to Thailand, do you!"
"No! We're shooting right here!"
"That's great!" I sigh. "How far away are you?"
"About ten minutes if traffic clears. Twenty if it doesn't."
"Damn." I look at my watch. It's a quarter to 6. Which means that gives me
just enough time to get him here, spring the news on him, and fix anything
broken. "Okay, baby. But hurry... Kat and JC are comin' for dinner." And he groans. "Don't even start that. They'll be here at 7." I hang up
quickly before he can start complaining and as luck has it, he doesn't
call back.
I wait until the very last minute to tell him. It's bad, I know, but. I
don't know how he'll react. At about a quarter to 7, with dinner prepared
and the Baked Alaska almost ready, I sit Rob down. "Baby, I, um, I have to
tell you something."
He puts his hand on my knee. "What is it, babe?"
"Um, well. Kat. is pregnant." Okay, so I chickened out. So sue me. Rob
smiles and takes my hand.
"That's great."
"Yeah, it is." I sigh again, knowing I have to say it. "Um, there's
something else."
"Are you..."
I look at him and burst out laughing. "Hell no! My pills work, remember?"
I shake my head and take a deep breath. "The PI report."
"I was sorta hoping you'd forgotten about it."
"No. Um, actually... I read it."
"And?"
"Well... baby, your parents are... I don't know how to say it. They... passed
away." His face drops. He'd been hoping to find something, someone. His
hopes are dashed. But... "Baby, you have a brother," I tell him softly.
"I... I do?"
"Mmhm," I tell him nodding. Now, how do I tell him who that brother is?
"He was born twenty years before you. They gave him up, too. He, um,
well..."
"Come on, baby. Spit it out. Is he dead, too?"
"Baby, no! Robbie, he's alive and well. And way too damn annoying," I put
in under my breath.
"What was that?"
"Oh, um. Let me just say this right out. I talked to my sister already and
from the description and everything else, we think JC is your brother."
And as the doorbell rings, I rush to it. Saved by the bell. For now.
By the time we get to the house, Jean-Claude's changed into the ten
thousand faces of cowardice. It's like he took lessons from my little
sister.
"What if he hates my guts?" he asks me.
"Hate to break it to you, but he knows you already and he's not that fond
of you."
"Way to make me feel good about this."
"Was that supposed to be my job?"
"Kat!"
"Baby, relax, please. It'll be fine. I mean, it's not like he's a
stranger."
By the time we get to their place, Jean-Claude's threatened to turn the
car around like twenty times. Finally, I hold on to his arm although he
tries to make a dash for the car. Even if he does, I know I'll be able to
tackle him before he gets too far. The condo's driveway is not too far and
he won't get very far. Thankfully, Carm opens the door before he can make
good on his escape.
"Hey!" she says, a little too brightly to my taste.
"You didn't tell him, did you?" I ask her.
"Good," Jean-Claude says, "don't. It's probably just wishful thinking from
both of you."
"Stop being such a damn coward!"
I push Jean-Claude past Carm and close the door. I turn to my sister.
"I told him," she says quickly.
"How long ago?"
"Like five seconds ago."
Just then Robbie appears at the top of the stairs and looks down at us.
Us... who am I kidding? He's looking down at Jean-Claude. Such intensity in
that gaze. I look at my husband and I see him look up at Rob and... oh God,
they so are brothers.
"Rob," I finally say after two full minutes of staring, "hello."
He looks at me. Seems kind of surprised to see me there... I go up the
stairs to him.
"Want to show me to the living room?" I ask gently.
Jerkily, he turns on his heel and starts walking away. Before following
him, I toss Carm a significant look. She gets it and lightly touches
Jean-Claude's arm.
"This is our living room," Rob tells me, his tone wooden.
"It's nice," I whisper, taking off my shoes before stepping on Carm's
pristine white carpet. I walk to a nearby couch and sit on it, patting the
seat next to me. He comes to sit next to me. "I'm not even going to
pretend to understand any of this shit," I tell him, "how confusing this
must be for you."
"Does he know... that he might be my brother?"
"Yeah."
"How's he dealing with it?"
"I think he's as scared as you are."
Rob doesn't say anything. Then he looks at me and smiles.
"Carmie tells me you're pregnant?"
"Yeah."
"I'll get to be an uncle... a real one, not just by marriage," he smiles
again.
"Yeah."
"So what does he think about me?"
I smile and run my hand over the face that's so much like Jean-Claude's.
"He thinks you have a damn good stage name."
"What else?"
"That..." the sentence dies on my lips when I see Carm and Jean-Claude
standing in the doorway to the living room. I'll let him speak for himself
now."
Part 28 (Carm's POV):
I look into my baby's eyes and almost wish we'd never found anything out.
He's so hurt, confused, vulnerable. I haven't seen him like that since I
met him, pining over that bitch. But now... this is so much important than
anything she had ever done to him.
This was way more personal. I let JC's hand go and watch as he walks to
Rob and Kat walks back to me. We don't want to leave, but... we don't want
to intrude either. So, we just hang back in the doorway as they talk.
"Um. So... you're my brother," Rob says nervously.
"That's what Katia thinks." There's a long pause before JC starts again.
"Um... Guess your last name isn't that bad after all."
Rob grunts, "I like my spelling better."
"You would." They're quiet again. I can feel the tension in the room
weighing on me, pushing me down, as if every weight in our house was being
dropped onto me. Then, the silence breaks again.
"Look," Rob says, sighing. "I don't know what we're supposed to be doing.
I didn't even know about this until about five seconds before you rang the
bell."
"And I know?" JC says. "I have no clue as to what we're doing, either. I
don't even know what all has been said or done."
"Me neither." I remember then that neither of them have seen the documents
in the envelope. I walk over quietly, picking them up off the table and
handing them to Rob.
"Here, baby," I tell him. "It's all in here." He takes the envelope and I
move back to my sister. As they slowly, hesitantly, take out the papers I
turn to her and sigh. "We did do the right thing," I ask. "Right?"
More of Two's Company, Four's a Reunion
More Series Fics
More Fan Fic
Main Page